_USNM 60256-M (S-K 14). Figure 3._
[Illustration: FIGURE 3]
This cockade is of black leather of the size prescribed by the 1813
regulations. Tooled into the upper fan is an eagle-on-cannon device
with a stack of 6 cannon balls under the trail; an arc of 15 stars
partially surrounds the eagle device. It is believed to have been worn
on artillery _chapeaux de bras_ as early as 1808.
The specimen is unmarked as to maker, but from correspondence of
Callendar Irvine, Commissary General of Purchases from 1812 to 1841,
it seems very possible that cockades similar to this one were made by
Robert Dingee of New York City. Dingee is first listed in New York
directories as a "saddler" (1812); he is listed later as "city
weigher" (1828) and "inspector of green hides" (1831). The
eagle-on-cannon design is similar to that of several Regular artillery
buttons worn between 1802 and 1821, but it most closely approximates a
button Johnson assigns to the period 1794-1810.[38]
[Footnote 38: Specimen no. 156 in JOHNSON, vol. 1, p. 43, vol. 2, p.
9.]
¶ The question has been raised as to whether the Regulars ever wore a
cockade with such a device. The 1813 and 1814 uniform regulations
merely specified black leather cockades of 4 inches and 4-1/2 inches
in diameter respectively. However, since the Militia generally did not
start adopting Regular Army devices until the 1820's it seems probable
that this cockade was an item of Regular Army issue, despite the lack
of evidence of specific authorization.
As early as January 1799 War Office orders specified: "All persons
belonging to the Army, to wear a black cockade, with a small white
eagle in the center. The cockade of noncommissioned officers,
musicians, and privates to be of leather with Eagles of tin."[39] This
regulation was repeated in 1800.[40] By 1802 these cockade eagles had
taken the colors used for the buttons and lace of the different arms.
The Purveyor of Public Supplies in that year purchased cockade eagles
in tin (white) for infantry and in brass (yellow) for artillery
enlisted men at a cost of one and two cents, respectively.[41] The
cockade eagles of infantry officers were to be of silver and those of
artillery officers of gold. Cockades for company officers and enlisted
personnel were to be of leather. The loosely worded regulation of 1813
infers that field officers' cockades might be of silk similar to the
"black Ribbon" binding specified for their hats.[42]
[Footnote 39: TODD, "Three Leather Cockades," pp. 24-25.]
[Footnote 40: General Order, March 30, 1800 (Records AGO).]
[Footnote 41: "Statement of Articles of Clothing, 1802," in papers of
Purveyor of Public Supplies (Records AGO).]
[Footnote 42: General Order, Southern Department, U.S. Army, January
24, 1813 (photostatic copy in files of division of military history,
Smithsonian Institution); also, _American State Papers_, p. 434.]
It is extremely difficult to determine whether cockade eagles are of
Regular Army or Militia origin, and to date them if the latter. They
have been found in a wide variety of design and size, ranging from the
rather plain example (fig. 6) to the highly refined one on the general
officer's _chapeau de bras_ (fig. 4). Examination of hats worn by both
Regulars and Militia prior to 1821 reveals that there is little to
choose between the eagles worn by the two components. After 1821,
however, when Militia insignia tended to become more ornate and
Regular devices more uniform, some of the Militia specimens emerge as
distinct types because they have no Regular counterparts. Origin of
the specimen, including excavations of military cantonment sites where
the make-up of the garrison can be determined, has been the primary
criterion used in assignment to either Regular Army or Militia, and to
a lesser extent in dating. Over-all design and method of manufacture
have also been considered in dating.